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Four men held after meth bust in Clifton

Four people face a range of possible drug-related felony charges after the Western Colorado Drug Task Force was tipped off about a car carrying methamphetamine arriving in Grand Junction from Rifle, according to an arrest affidavit.

Several of the arrest affidavits in six separate cases were filed under seal for German Rivas-Gonzalez, 30, Fermin Zuniga-Zazueta, 24, Jorge Gomez-Marquez, 35, and Alfredo Acosta, 53. All the men have federal immigration holds.

The four were ordered held Monday on bonds ranging from $50,000 to $125,000, after their arrests over the weekend. Three of them, Rivas-Gonzalez, Zuniga-Zazueta and Gomez-Marquez, were arrested Friday as passengers in a truck that was stopped in Clifton and allegedly found to be hauling 4 ounces of suspected methamphetamine, all bagged and hidden in a panel on the vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.

The affidavit said a Task Force officer on Friday received information from a confidential informant that two of the men would be driving from Rifle to Grand Junction, with meth concealed in their vehicle.

A red Chevrolet Silverado 1500, with two occupants matching the descriptions provided by the informant, was stopped just before noon at the Bradley Sinclair at F Roads and Helena Street after the vehicle got off Interstate 70 at the Clifton exit, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Acosta was arrested as a result of the investigation involving the trio, but the document doesn’t explain where and when Acosta was arrested.

Acosta allegedly told an investigator he intended to purchase 2 1/2 ounces of meth from Rivas-Gonzalez, while Acosta was found in possession of $5,000 in cash, the affidavit said. The four were advised Monday on charges ranging from conspiracy, distribution of a controlled substance and special-offender charges.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department on Monday refused to release booking photos of the men, saying the case remains under investigation.